Dwarven Dragons
by Necon Rada
Summary: Three years have passed since the death of Smaug. The settling process inside the mountain is going as well as can be hoped. Yet, it seems Smaug left Middle Earth with a terror that could one day soon repeat the tragedy he first wrought upon the Mountain. Fili and Bilbo are both under pressure to keep their little scaly secret, well, secret. And yet, all things must come to light.
1. Chapter 1

Far within the depths of the last great Dwarven city of Middle Earth, under stone carved into large cavernous halls and sealed behind great wrought doors, lay the wealth of gold that had once supported the Fire Drake of the North. Here, crouched within the sea of riches that the Great Beast horded before his fall, was found the next Heir of Erebor, Son of Dis and Descendant of the First King, Durin the Deathless.

It was one of those rare nights that he had wondered off alone within the Mountain, his brother having passed out mere hours ago from an exhausting day of what Dwalin liked to call 'training'.

Fili had to listen to Kili complain about the fact that the Captain of the Guard took way too much enjoyment in kicking their asses to the ground. This time, the Eldest had to agree with the statement.

However, the treatment may have been due to the stunt Kili had pulled the day before, involving arrows and the kitchen's supply of apples. That hadn't gone down as well as it could have, in all honesty.

But, training aside, Fili's mind had been restless throughout the rest of the day, whirling from one direction to another, from this problem with snooty elves to that problem with the trade of men. It should have been enough to comatose him like it had his impulsive little brother. But, as he had settled down for the night, his mind just would not let him rest.

After fruitless attempts to sleep, the blonde Dwarf had resorted to walking the quite halls of the upper floors, avoiding the guards that passed by on their rounds. He hadn't wanted to deal with being followed around his home. Not tonight.

He had just needed to walk, with nothing to distract him except the soft fall of his feet barely echoing off the walls.

Some way or another, he had ended up in the treasury, looking uninterestedly from goblet to gold to finely cut gems. It was an awe inspiring sight to be sure, but although it sung to him like all gold did to a dwarf, he had learned from a dear hobbit that there were more important things to life then riches. The threat of the Gold sickness was always in the back of his mind though, dragging with it memories of his Uncle when he had almost been completely consumed by its madness, resulting in the endangerment of their bugler. All in the past though, as it should be.

Fili had been about to turn back and try his luck at slumber once more, having enough of the aimless wondering, when that object had caught his eye. Well, more like _objects_.

These were obviously not something that should be found in a treasury, shattered as they were and half submerged in coins. They were something -on closer inspection- that should be found in a nest.

A dragon's nest, to be exact.

Fili felt his blood run cold as he stared down at the remains of what was once going to be Smaug's offspring. He didn't understand how, being no expert on the ways of dragons aside from loving gold, living a long time, and breathing fire. That, and being hard to kill with that scaly hide of theirs.

Crouching down, he flicked off a few coins and picked up a shard of the dark shell, the outside rough like that of stone, while the inside was smooth and iridescent in colour.

He wondered how it had come about that the shells laid shattered here, for Smaug wouldn't have tried to kill his own offspring, would he? Bilbo had made no mention of dragon eggs, let along breaking them. No, these looked older than that, to before they had taken back the mountain. It was a wonder no one else had found this glimmering grave earlier.

A shift in the gold caught his attention in that moment, and what his blue eyes locked onto made his whole world freeze over.

* * *

What was he thinking? His people had been either forced out or slaughtered by the massive fire Drake of the North, not to mention the sickness that the beast had left upon the treasure horde of Thror, which had almost wholly consumed his Uncle. And the destruction of not only Dale, but Lake Town as well, should also add the final nail in the coffin as to why he shouldn't be doing this.

But alas, it seemed that his brother's knack for doing things he really shouldn't was rubbing off on him. It wasn't like he hadn't helped his little brother pull off certain stunts before, but this time there was no Kili in the equation to forge this decision forward. It was just him and the tiny scaled creature that curled within the palm of his hand, stuffed down his pocket as he strode out of the treasury and towards the rooms him and his brother shared.

Nodding to Nirdu and Kemmek, the new guards for night shift posted outside his door, he slipped into his chambers and shut out the world with a sigh of relief. Closing his eyes, he tried to calm his conflicted thoughts.

What in Mahal's Name was he doing? This was in no way a good idea. This was worse than a BAD idea. What would happen if Thorin, or his mother, discovered the creature trying to leech the heat out of his hand at this very moment? He knew she still had Nightmares now and then from Smaug's attack all those years ago, and even after seeing the dragon's corpse pulled from the ruins of Lake Town, she still hated any mention of the beast. And yet here he was, smuggling out of the treasury one of Smaug's hatchlings that he had found still sticky from the shells membrane. It had cowered into one of the many goblets littered throughout the horde, making the mistake of shifting too far to one side and causing the goblet tip and roll down the dune to its base. Fili had drawn one of his blades at the sight of the scaly hide, however, upon getting a closer view at the little thing, he couldn't make himself kill it. It had been so helpless, curled there and watching him slowly approach with frightened eyes, scales a ruddy red colour seeping into a black brown belly. And then Dwalin had entered the hall looking for him, and he had just-

"Fili! Hello? Khâzash?"

The Crowned Prince blinked up and back into his surroundings after getting carried over with recaps of what he had just done. Kili stood before him, the worry-like frown he had been sporting disappearing when he discovered he had gotten his brothers attention finally.

"Are you ok, Khâzash? You seem a little…out of sorts? Too many hits to the head from Dwalin in the training yard?" Kili bore an impish grin, white teeth flashing, and yet there was an inkling of concern in those eyes.

"That may have something to do with it" he replied, thinking back on the training earlier that morning. Maybe it had knock all of his sanity from him?

"Are you sure?" Kili was watching him carefully now, grin still partly holding on, picking up on the tiny twitches his Brother made when he was in a situation he was uncomfortable with or stressed about.

"No, Kili. I don't think I am…" Fili looked up at his brother, eyes like a clear summer sky clouded over in darker clouds of panic. "I found something, Kili. In the treasury just now. I couldn't bring myself to do it. Even after everything! It was so helpless, and so small! And if Dwalin had seen it when he walked in, it would surely have been killed. And then there's Mother and Uncle, and the rest of the inhabitants of the mountain! What am I going to do? I don't want it to die. I can't explain why, but the little thing reminded me of you when you were very young, and I…I just-"

"Fili! Hold on, slow down for me" Kili tried, having no idea what his brother was even going on about. It was not like Fili to get shaken up like this, unless it just happened to be Kili in a situation of potential death. "Now, tell me-" he grabbed onto Fili's shoulders, looking him in the eye as he searched for the reason for this sudden burst out of Fili. "-what is this 'Thing' you're going on about? It can't be that…"

Kili trailed off, staring down at the scaly lump coiled in the palm of his brother's hand, which he had pulled out of his pocket while Kili had been talking.

"What…is that? Fili, is that what I think it is?" Kili sprung back a few feet at the nod of confirmation. "Durinu-me turg! But How? There was only Smaug? How did you end up with…?"

"A dragon hatchling?" Fili finished for him.

"Yeah."

"I…I don't know. I don't understand how it got there. Smaug was male, wasn't he?"

"More importantly, if there was one…" Brown eyes lingered on the little lump still in Fili's hand.

"There were other shards, old ones all cracked. It didn't look like there was any other survivors…" Fili rubbed down his face with his free hand, as if trying to rid himself of the memory.

"Are you sure?"

* * *

 **Translations: (I hope these are right)**

Durinu-me turg - By Durin's Beard

Khâzash - Brother

* * *

 **A/N: Right, so I'm a little new to posting this. I've had this idea in my head, and a friend encouraged me to just go for it. So here it is. Hope people enjoy it! Bilbo will show up in the next chapter too. Can't imagine what with...**

 **Anyway, Disclaimer: The Hobbit and it's characters belongs to Tolkien**

 **Mine are my own etc.**


	2. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer: Nothing is mine except the Hatchlings. May Bilbo not have the hair on his feet singed.**

* * *

Bilbo's cup of tea clattered to the floor, spilling over one of the plush red rugs that his mother had once been quite fond of. The action however had gone without notice, Bilbo being too busy staring at the satchel lying on its back with the flap just barely open, giving a glimpse within to its contents. He had placed it on one of the coffee tables earlier that morning, the intention of sorting through it in the back of his mind.

It was one he had brought back from Erebor three years prior, one of the few that hadn't been packed with large amounts of food that Bombur had saddled onto his pony before his departure home with the Grey Wizard as company. In this one, there had been trinkets and gold pieces that had either caught Bilbo's interest or had been snuck in by one of the company (the gold being the main thing the dwarves contributed). The amount of spoon waving Bilbo had done when he had caught one of them slipping something unnecessary into his packs as he chased them off had left his arm sore indeed (again, mainly gold, and the odd diamond).

However, he didn't remember anything going into the satchel that could potentially move on its own accord. Least of all survive three years in a cupboard, while he spent many a day hunting down his furnishings that had been in the process of being auctioned when he had arrived home.

Many a hobbit in the Shire had had a Mr. Baggins around for a cup of tea and a polite ' _I want my stuff back_ ' from him to accompany it over the course of five months.

Now, Bilbo didn't have any rodents in his abode. Yavanna forbid any hobbit having a _rodent_ shuffling within their burrow or Smial. It was downright improper to have such a thing happen. And yet the satchel jolted to the side once again, perched now on the very edge of the table, a few coins making their escape out of one of the pockets.

There were many rumors going around that Bilbo may have lost a little of his sanity while he had been away, and that leaving his house only to buy food when need be was some sort of proof to that. Bilbo had shrugged them off though, knowing full well that said rumors had been started by a certain Sackville-Baggins, and that few bothered to believe such a story. Still, gossip had been gossip. Now though, he was starting to believe he had indeed put off going outside one too many days, and that his head had become a little clouded without the fresh air.

His Tookish side was bubbling with interest at the mystery rapped in leather, however his Baggins side has screaming to throw said satchel and its contents back into the cupboard where it came from -or out the front door-. He could live with a little less dwarven gold, thank you very much.

Shuffling his feet and contemplating, his Tookish side won out. He had faced much fiercer and dangerous things before on his travels. He was not going to let a _satchel_ disgrace his pride now. He'd never let himself live it down.

Still ignoring the fallen china, he went to take a step forward to deal with the matter, when the matter seemed to beat him to it.

One last jolt, and a solid round object fell out of the opening, hitting the wood flooring with an ear cracking sound that had Bilbo stumbling back into the armchair in a panic.

Wide eyes stayed locked onto the object as it rolled around, clear jagged cracks marring the almost ruff looking surface before it finally rocked to a stop at the base of the small table. The urge to flee from the armchair – because sitting in it with his feet held up off the floor still felt too close – almost overwhelmed the poor Hobbit, but when it made no further action he let out the breath he hadn't realized he held.

The Thing wasn't much bigger then the size of a saucer, mottled in a range of browns and reds over its surface. Bilbo sat there, nose twitching, staring at the Thing and trying to figure out from what animal such an egg would come from. For there was no doubt it was an egg. Any lack-brained creature could figure that out. And Bilbo was far from lacking in brains.

It stumped him however, on how such an egg had ended up in one of his satchels. He had no memory of picking it up on his travels home, nor of seeing it within Erebor's Halls. With another twitch of his nose and huff of frustration, he decided his next point of action.

"Come on, Bilbo" he muttered to himself, "It's just an egg. There can't be anything in there that you cannot handle. You took on a _troll_!"

At the rise of his voice at that last sentence, the egg twitched, shuddered, and jolted. Crack by small crack, pieces of the shell began to break off, joining the tea cup in creating a mess on the floor. Out of the holes left proceeded to ooze a clear liquid, making the inner clean freak within the poor hobbit – that had once been buried under months of traveling – wince at the potential sticky mess.

Another shudder.

A high-pitched wail.

A final crack.

Bilbo stumbled back as shards blotched in browns and reds flew across the floor, revealing what it had once contained. Covered in the same clear fluid from the inners of the egg flailed a small black-brown lizard, little claws in the air – which looked sharp enough to slice one of his tomatoes – snatching at nothing as it tried to free itself from the rest of the shell.

If it was even possible, Bilbo felt his eyes go wider.

He had a mini Smaug on his floor…

A mini, potentially fire breathing terror. On. His. Floor.

If he had not been sitting in his chair already, he may have just fallen over right then and there. Bilbo had had quite enough with the horrors that those beasts could wrought, so why did he get stuck with another? Was this just a cruel joke?

The scuffle was finally over, the last of the shell broken and wasted around the now upright hatchling.

Eyes that could put Dwarven gold to shame caught Bilbo's gaze, unblinking as it watched him with a steadiness that unnerved him. There was so much…awareness in those globes, like it knew that itself and Bilbo were not the same creature.

It felt like minutes had passed while the reptile sized him up, head tilting on its snake-like neck, nostrils flaring as it took in the scents of his home. Bilbo could get nothing from its blank expression, if you could call it blank. Bilbo had only seen about three expressions from Smaug. Snarling curiosity, rage, and pain. Thankfully, those three didn't pull at it's scaled, horny features. Nothing did. Just a…blankness.

Glancing away, Bilbo decided to address what struck him the most. The wings that should have graced the gangly arms the reptile had, were not visible. Doing his best to look at its hands without actually having to move, he noticed what appeared to be a thumb, index, and middle finger positioned like on any other hand. It was the last _three_ fingers that bothered him. They seemed to sit to the side of the palm, pointing back to sit parallel with its body.

These must be the appendages that the membrane of skin stretched between to form the wings. A membrane that was not clearly there. The little hatchling was almost too identical to Smaug to not be a dragon. So, was it a birth defect? He had heard of a piglet a few springs ago on Farmer Dingell's plot being born with only three legs. An almost unheard of occurrence, but not impossible. Maybe, like that piglet, this little thing hadn't been formed properly?

Or, like that of a baby bird, it grew into its wings?

Bilbo huffed at the thought of comparing the little Bringer of Destruction to something as harmless as a piglet or baby bird, as if it wouldn't grow into the enormous killer just as it's Sire had been.

Speaking of destruction, there was still bits of egg shell, goo, and chipped china on his floor surrounding the hatching.

A "If mother could see this…" escaped as a huff from his lips, yet it seemed that life hadn't finished with today's surprises. For what should happen but to have someone knock at his door in a way that just screamed Lobelia.

Sod it all, could this day get any worse?

In a motion that looked like it should have broken its neck with the speed alone, slitted pupils latch on to the front door just visible down the hall. Bilbo stiffened up once again as lips curled up threateningly, baring teeth Bilbo hoped never ended up sinking into his skin.

A low deadly hiss answered the next knock, the hatchling crouching low to the floorboards and pulling in its limbs closer to its body, tail wrapping around to cover its toes. It was a clear sign that it was feeling a little threatened, and truthfully, Bilbo didn't blame it. Lobelia could screech in a way that could put goblins to shame, something he had discovered once arriving home from his journey with the Company. She had not been happy that the prospect of getting Bag End had gone up in a puff of smoke. He swore it had made her even more determined to get his silver spoons.

The delicate, scaly head swayed back to regard him, hissing in a less ' _Kill it_ ' manor and more in a ' _I disapprove of that noise'_ before staring back at the door expectantly, still hunched down.

What did it think he was going to do? Open the door? Wave a broom in that woman's face and tell her to clear off, because he had the offspring of Smaug the Terrible to deal with first?

He _could_ just open the door and hold the hatchling up in front of her. That'd definitely send her on her way in flurry of skirts and awful screams. It involved picking up the lizard up however, and Bilbo was only just allowing himself to breath, let alone move to grab it.

"I'm not answering the door" he huffed, when he got another hiss in his direction. It blinked, the rather slim tail twitching. "Don't look at me like that. You might bite me if I move."

Another blink.

Another hiss.

Another set of loud knocks on his poor door.

Yavanna's Green Fields, why was he talking to it. He should be waving a poker at the hatchling and trying to get it out of his house – and get rid of the woman at his door at the same time. But no. He stayed in his chair, nose twitching and now locked in a staring contest with a lizard. Oh, if Thorin could see him now.

Thorin.

Oh dear…

* * *

 **A/N: So, first off. I want to thank those that liked and followed this story. I'm not the fastest typer...who am I kidding. I'm slow as balls.**

 **Second, to Mjoern for my first review. I was bouncing off the walls in glee. And big thanks to Enchantedstarlight, whose review is the reason this chapter is out this fast! You made my day.  
**

 **And last, I had no idea how to reply to reviews before... You'd think I should know this, but noooooooooo. I was going to ask for help...until I went to post this up and found out... Yeeeeaaaahhhh, whoops.  
**

 **Till next time!**


	3. Chapter 3

Hours had passed, and neither of the brothers had left Fili's room, locked away from the prying eyes and ears of the Mountain. Their chambers were laid out in such a way that the two bedchambers sat next to each other, connected in two ways. One was the door that connected the rooms directly, and the other was the main doors into the private Drawing room they shared. Not wanting to take the risk of someone barging into the Drawing room from the hall, both Durin boys had retreated to Fili's room, hatchling still in his hand.

"We have to tell Uncle. We can't keep a baby dragon here!" Kili repeated for the umpteenth time, almost as if he was trying to convince himself, as well as his brother. Fili knew that their decision making hadn't been working out as well as it could have, and with the lack of conviction and being on the fence with whatever Kili proposed to him for the past few hours, irritation was slowly settling in.

The debate had been swinging from killing the tiny destroyer, to maybe sneaking it out of the mountain and setting it free. The latter seemed impractical though, since doing such a thing would leave the new-born helpless and more than likely to either starve or be eaten by something larger in the area. Which, looked to be almost every other wild creature beyond the mountain. On the plus side, it would get it out of their hair. But when Fili had considered this, the creature had mewled quietly and curled even tighter onto itself, as if knowing the topic of the conversation at hand. Guilt had begun to trickle its ways past his misgivings at that point. It was such a tiny thing, no bigger than a six-week-old kitten. Its scales were by no means close to being the impenetrable armour it's sire had donned. If anything, they looked like a mottle of tiny delicate petals hugging the small amount of muscle and bone that made up its form.

"There is the possibility that it could follow us back to the mountain" Fili injected his brother's continued ramblings. "Or worse. It could be discovered by the humans."

"How is that worse?" his brother scoffed, flopping hazardously back down into the armchair after throwing another log on the fire. "Both Dwarf and Human alike were dealt a crushing blow by Smaug."

"The dealings between Bard and Uncle have not been the smoothest, on all accounts. If not for Bilbo before the battle, an alliance may not have ever been made. As it is, it's clear to all those in the company, and those close to him that Thorin hasn't shaken the Gold sickness completely. After the battle, he began to slip again. You must have noticed it, Kili."

Kili said nothing, staring off to the side like he was connecting the dots to previous happenings and the possible connection to the gold sickness.

Fili took that as a sign to continue.

"If the humans found out that there was offspring of the creature that wrought all that despair on Dale, and then later Lake Town, we could come under persecution. Questions will rise around why we never checked for eggs in the first place. Those against Uncle's right to rule will question his ability and competence."

"But the dragon was killed!"

"Not by dwarven hand. That honour goes to the Lord of Dale, Bard."

"So what? It's not our fault that we didn't think to check for eggs from a male dragon!"

"No, but Bard will want all of Erebor searched none the less to make sure there are no others. And Uncle will have none of that. Humans, tearing apart our mountain to make sure it's the only one? The animosity would shoot through the roof."

"I get it, ok. It'd be even worse if the humans found out, blah blah blah."

"It'd be bad if anyone found out."

Kili shot up in his chair, looking like he had been struck with the greatest idea in the world. The words that came next however, just proved to Fili how wrong that assumption was.

"What if we raised it?!"

He blinked at that goofy grin, not sure he had heard right.

"What?! Kili, are you mad?"

"Think about it, brother! We could be a kingdom that is protected by a dragon! No one could attack us!" He gestured wildly, already imagining the glory.

"That's because we'd most likely be dead" Fili dead-panned, pinching the bridge of his nose with his free hand. "What happens when it turns on us and decides it wants the mountain for itself? Just like that Fire Breathing Worm."

"We could teach it not to! That eating dwarves is bad."

Fili loved his bother dearly, would die to protect him. But even he knew Kili could come up with some devastatingly stupid ideas at times. Had it slipped Kili's mind what had happened in the burning of Lake Town? Maybe he had to use another approach.

"And what about Uncle, Brother? You expect him to just go along with this plan?" He pinned his brother with a stare, daring him to argue the fact. "He wouldn't listen, Kili. Uncle witnessed the destruction when Smaug first arrived. Those memories are still fresh with him, as if it was yesterday." Fili knew this, he had seen the dark look that passed over the King when mention of the fire-breather rose. Fili had only heard stories of the incident, and then later seen the destruction when he and the company had taken back their home. He didn't hold a first-hand hatred for the creature. And it was hard to convince himself to do that with how small it was. Maybe, in a different time and place, he would have sat in wonder over having a dragon in his possession. He would have showed it off to the whole of the Blue Mountains with his chest puffed out with pride, his little brother following along beside him looking just as delighted.

Now however, he knew better.

Three years on, the burning of Lake Town still haunted him in his sleep. It had started with just the sight of a flickering flame, setting off in his head the screams of the residences fleeing for their lives. Woman and children crying out, clinging desperately to life, the freezing water before them just as the raging inferno danced behind. Many had fallen silent, and for him, that was the worst part. Screaming meant that they were alive, still fighting. Silence was nothing but death.

It had taken months before he could be comfortable around the hearth, and many more till he could have a semi decent sleep without starting awake in the middle of the night, cold from sweat.

"If he did find about this-" he raised his occupied palm to emphasis his point- "Uncle would destroy this small thing, and then go on a mad rampage looking for any others within the treasury. I wouldn't put it passed him to even travel all the way to Bilbo's just to make sure one wasn't hiding in the Hobbit's hill." Fili replied, lowering the lizard onto the floor this time and watching it carefully as it shifted. They were getting nowhere with this. "The people have only just settled into the mountain and started rebuilding. Word of a dragon hatching in the treasury would push back all the progress the people have made up to now."

Kili sighed, slouching back into his chair in defeat. Fili knew it wouldn't last long. His brother would come up with another insane idea soon enough, and Fili would have to be the one to talk sense back into him.

The hatchling raised his head to sniff at the air, as if testing for danger, stretching out its oddly shaped arms and creeping across the floor. Eyes flicked around nervously, as step by step it explored its new surroundings.

In the flickering light of the fire, the dragonet seemed so much more…darker. Its tiny body blended into the shadows, so he couldn't quite see where the lizard ended and the furniture began. It was the perfect lighting to start believing that this thing was the spawn of evil, until it gave a squeak of distress after it had knocked into one of the chairs, dislodging some of the many blades Fili had deposited there to be taken care of later. The move had made the thing scamper across the floor, tiny claws scratching as it propelled itself right up Fili's leg and dived into his pocket, leaving nothing but the tip of its tail twitching over the lip, as the owner of said coat's pocket just blinked down in surprise.

The sound of barely contained chuckles issued forth from Kili, feeling the heavy weight of their problem lift, swearing that even the light in the room brightened slightly. They needed a break, something, anything, to liven their spirits for a few moments. And what better then ale and a hot meal.

"I'll go get us something so we don't starve in our own chambers. Can't be looking too bony and pale if the little beast murders us before we solve this problem." Kili grinned, bouncing back into his usual happy self. Even throwing a cheeky grin at his brother when he added, "Shall I tell them that the Golden Son of Lady Dis has had the sanity knocked out of him and cannot join for dinner?"

"If it keeps Uncle and Mother away from our rooms-" he huffed, the corner of his mouth twisting up into a grin, "-give it your best shot."

He trusted Kili to charm his way into making people believe whatever story he came up with, even if their kin were harder than most to hoodwink.

Kili paused for a moment, hand on the door knob that would lead him out of his brother's room.

"What about…" The rest of the sentence needn't be said. Fili knew what he was asking.

"Maybe a little of something, until we figure this all out." He sighed, before adding under his breath, "We can't have it trying to chew on us if it gets hungry."

A snort was all the reply he got, having heard Fili's quite comment, before Kili was slipping out the door and closing it behind him with defining click.

Fili was left alone in his chambers, the cackling of the fire filling in the silence of the room. For a moment, he thought he saw the form of a building within the light, its timbers collapsing down to silence the pleas for help form the inhabitants that hadn't been able to escape. He felt his body tense as the memory played through, before the flames engulfed it all and left him blinking at the hearth, empty of structures and screams.

He had been doing well lately. The flashes hadn't hit him in weeks, even with the torches everywhere within the halls. Could the trigger have been caused by the presence of the creature? Or was it just the stress he was under to sort out this situation without tearing the already frail alliance? Or, quite possibly, it was a combination of both.

He glanced down at the lizard still cowering in his pocket.

He didn't want to admit it, but after observing the thing scuttling around the room before fleeing straight back into his pocket, there was a twinge of affection building towards the creature.

An affection that he had a bad feeling was only going to grow if he didn't solve this soon. Unfortunately, it was just as likely that the dragon would turn out like it's father and slaughter those within the mountain then help them defend it.

* * *

"What did you tell Uncle and Mother?" Fili asked, as Kili entered through the adjoining door from his rooms, carrying a tray piled high with hot food fresh from the kitchens.

"That you were ill. It's the only thing I could think of at the time" Kili tried to defend when Fili threw him a 'That's all you could come up with?' look. "Honestly, they fell for it. However…"

Fili paused as he went to grab a plate from the tray, raising a golden eyebrow.

"What is it?"

"Well…" He scratched the back of his head with his free hand, suddenly becoming very interested in his boots.

"Kili…"

"Oin may be coming to check on you later this evening, to…you know…make sure you're not that badly ill."

"Kili! That's exactly what we didn't want!" He stressed, his hand absentmindedly covering the pocket with the little creature still inside. "We can't have anyone walk in here and find a baby dragon crawling across the floor!"

"I know, I know! But, what was I to say? I couldn't say no. Both Uncle and Mother would have gotten suspicious." Kili placed down the tray on one of the side tables, before continuing. "I at least managed to convince Mother to stay away for the time being."

"Right, and when Oin shows up?" he inquired, grabbing the plate and sitting down to eat. "I'm not even sick."

"We'll just do what we used to do when we were kids, and didn't want to be tortured by that droll History teacher."

"Kili, I'm 85 years old and the heir to one of the greatest Dwarven cities every built. I'm not sure I can pull stunts like pretending to be ill off anymore." Well, maybe he could have if it wasn't Oin. If it had been the old darrowdam that had treated them back in the blue mountains, he could probably pull it off. It was all down to the right amount of charm. A charm that wouldn't work on Oin.

"Nonsense!" Kili grinned. "You've got me, remember! You may have lost a little of your fooling touch these last few years, but thankfully, your younger brother has been keeping his own rather sharp."

Fili huffed. Of course his brother had. Kili lived for pranking the city, and truth be told, it did liven the people up a little. It certainly did him, until their mother caught word of it. He grabbed one of the still warm slices of bread and took a bite, the butter already softened from the heat, and waited to finish chewing before asking his next question.

"And what of the scaly one?"

"We can put it in my room, just while Oin's around?" Kili suggested. "I can lock my main door so that no one can come through. And Oin's deft as a post. He shouldn't hear it even if it tipped something over."

"I guess that could work." He still had misgivings though. What if Oin did hear? What if it cried out?

"Of course it will! Come now brother! You used to have so much more faith in me!" He spluttered, playacting as if he had been hit in the chest with an arrow, clutching at it tightly.

"Kili, you are one of the few people I trust unconditionally."

"I know" he grinned. "Now, shall we make sure we're not made into a chew toy tonight?"

Kili fished around in one of the pockets, before pulling out a brown paper bag that looked almost like something was about to seep through.

"I managed to steal away some of the softer off-cuts before Bombur or the Head Cook noticed what I was doing. It should be ok for the little thing, right?"

Fili couldn't help the soft smile as he thought of Kili dancing around the kitchen, trying to find something that the creature wouldn't have too much difficulty eating. It was clear that Kili wasn't really concerned with the fact that it was a dragon. It seemed that until they came to a decision, he was going to treat it to the same consideration and thought that he gave to any of their animals.

As Fili pulled out the mini terror from its current lair, he couldn't help but feel that it was slowly ensnaring them both. Not in the way of gold sickness, but in some other way he just couldn't put his finger on.

* * *

 **A/N: I apologize immensely for how late this is. I've been staring at it, re-reading it and changing bits and pieces here and there in between work and uni. It's out today because one of my best mates almost looked ready to grab me by the ear and force me onto my computer. She cringed a how long its taken this chapter, and I have a feeling she's going to make sure it doesn't happen again.**

 **On the bight side, I have about 12 chapters worth of outlines and plans for this! However, feel free to comment something you want to see happen between the dragons (wyverns), Bilbo and the boys. Any ideas are welcome!**


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